Marionel
by Awesomeness02
Summary: Raven is a skilled knight who obtains a Marionel- a combat doll which undergoes a contract with their master, the knight. However, he finds out shocking news about Eve and along the way, he befriends Elsword & Chung with their Marionels. Step into the world of Marionel!
1. Birth Of A Marionel

**Marionel**

Hey guys, this is Inoki & Mikoto's second collaboration story for Elsword! We hope you enjoy it :)

By the way, if you didn't know, this FanFiction is Elsword x Aisha, and Raven x Eve. (Inoki-ElxAi, and Mikoto-RavxEve)

These are the looks of the characters: [ALL THE GIRLS START OFF AS BASE CLASS (Except for Aisha, she is a dark magician), WE WILL TELL YOU GUYS WHEN THEY CHANGE TO THESE CLASSES]

Elsword-Lord Knight

Aisha-Void Princess

Raven-Blade Master

Eve-Code Battle Seraph

Chung-Deadly Chaser

Rena-Grand Archer

**Disclaimer:** We do not own anything~

* * *

**Chapter 1: Birth Of A Marionel**

_Welcome to Elrios, a world full of different beings. Elves, humans, demons, and Marionels. Each individual who achieves the title of Knight shall be granted a Marionel. The Marionels are dolls that are created by a contract through Knights using alchemy. If the doll dies, no harm is done, and they can be replaced. But if the master dies, the doll will slowly crumble away to nothing. These dolls are considered an ultimate weapon with their different abilities. How they came about? There was a once a war, a very long time ago. It was a war between humans and demons. The humans had the upper hand, until the Demon King gained more mysterious forces. After a huge battle, the humans were fortunate to receive reinforcements from the elves to win the war. They were victorious and the humans soon gained knowledge of upgraded alchemy to create dolls named Marionel. _

•

"Phew, I can't believe I actually managed to pass the Knight exam!" the dark haired male wiped sweat from his brow. Raven was a soldier from out of town, and had recently moved to Velder, the Capital of Knights.

"Er-hem." Someone cleared their throat behind him, Raven turned. "I'm guessing you're the new Knight…Raven, was it?" A woman with crimson hair had a hand placed on her hip.

"Ah-yes!" he nodded his head. "And you are…?"

"Elesis, Vice Commander of the Velder Knights. Also known as the Red Knights." She introduced herself, then turned. "Follow me, we're going to the Hall for the preparations."

"The Hall?" he questioned.

"Someone else will show you around later, we need to finish the important business first."

•

Elesis had led him to a grand hall, and yet, nearly every building was grand; just some were…grander. Raven was trailing her, but always kept his eyes everywhere, as he was new to his surroundings, and was clearly fascinated.

"Don't fall behind." Elesis glared at him sharply.

"!" he straightened himself up. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Ma'am?" she repeated.

"Uh...sir?" he mumbled.

She sighed, then walked up to a tall man. "Commander Penensio, I have brought the new Knight. His name is Raven."

The man who was named Penensio eyed the dark haired male. "Ah, Raven...tell me, what is your preferred weapon?" He stepped aside, and Raven saw that there was a display of many different types of weapons. He walked over to the sword section, and picked up one that suited him. "A sword. This one will do fine."

Penensio nodded. "If you obtain a higher rank, you'll be granted better weapons. That's how it works. Now, here is a certificate, you must sign your name. Afterwards, we'll hand you a badge that proves you're a Knight. Then, you'll be shown around."

"By you, Commander?" he blinked.

Elesis snapped harshly, "Of course not, Commander Penensio is far too busy to be escorting a new-"

"Elesis, don't waste your breath." Penensio interrupted her, then looked back at Raven. "Just sign the paper, take your badge, and your guide will be here shortly."

Raven did as he was told, then Penensio smiled at him, "Welcome to the Capital of Knights, Raven. I look forward to working with you."

He nodded his head. "Thank you, sir."

"Sir! You called for me?" A black-haired soldier that looked around Raven's age saluted the high ranking knight.

Elesis spoke for him. "Raven, this is Lento. He'll be showing you around and telling you all you need to know."

He shook hands with his guide. "Thanks, teach me well."

•

"This is the dormitories, I'll take you to your room later. On your right is the training area where instructors will give lessons and on your left is the free sparring area where you can train with your partner or fight others." Lento gestured in different directions but Raven's attention kept turning back to the little boy following the soldier.

"Uh...Lento, this is all very informative and all but..."

Lento stopped and turned. "What is it? Don't worry, you'll get used to this place eventually if you think you'll get lost!"

"No, that's not it..." The senior followed the dark haired man's gaze.

"Oh! You mean Allegro here?"

"Allegro...?"

The small boy with black hair and pale skin pushed his glasses up. He seemed to be nervous. "N-Nice to meet you, Sir Raven..."

Raven nodded his head back, then raised his eyebrow at Lento. "There's a kid here on campus?"

"Haha, silly Raven, he's not a kid." laughed Lento.

"What?! He's older than he looks?!" Raven gasped.

"No, he's my Marionel."

"A what?"

"Marionel." Lento repeated. "A Marionel is a doll, like a puppet, that assists us in combat. Every knight has one!"

Raven looked around again as he said that. It was true, every knight on campus had a partner with them. "So...Marionel originates from the word marionette, huh?"

"You got it!" They continued walking and soon, the newbie saw a building, some-what like a temple up ahead.

"Just a little further..." he heard Lento mumble.

"Why is there a temple here? On campus? For Knights?"

"It's where you'll acquire your partner- your Marionel." Lento decided to explain more. "You see, in the temple, alchemists use alchemy to create a doll that is compatible with you and your fighting style."

"And if they're not..?"

He laughed. "It's rare if they're not! Your first Marionel is usually the one for you. Anyways, I'll tell you more about the different types. There are 3 main classes of Marionels: Combat, Magic and Informant. Allegro here is an informant, although, he's a little more special than others!"

Allegro nodded. "I'm the only Marionel informant that can perform Alchemy." The shy boy whispered to Raven. "I can also hack devices."

Raven stared. "Isn't that illegal?"

The boy simply nodded.

"So...only higher ups can learn and perform alchemy but a doll, like Allegro, can?"

"That's right. Every Informant doll has a special trait and Alchemy is his."

"Know anything about the other two classes?" Raven was intrigued by these Marionels.

"Well, Magic Marionels can use magic...that's self-explanatory. While Combat ones specialize in weapons- it depends on the Marionel and the knight. For example... see that guy over there? His Combat Marionel wields throwing knives because the knight is an Axe wielder. Your doll makes up for what you lack, therefore, close and distance combat."

"Ah, that makes sense." Raven processed the information into his brain.

"Oh, but sometimes the Marionel is the same combat type as you but usually when that happens, the pair specializes in one thing. Like that guy over there." Lento pointed to a young blond with his Marionel. "Those two are both distant types so they'll specialize in missions like assassination."

"Wow." Raven blinked, then continued questioning Lento. "Wait, you said that they make up for what you lack...but if Allegro is an informant type, it means he doesn't do fighting, so wouldn't that actually put you at a disadvantage?"

"I'm glad you could point that out, not bad rookie." smirked Lento. "It's exactly as you said, Raven. Since Allegro doesn't fight, I have to make up for that, which means I have to work two times harder, and be two times stronger."

"Isn't that...difficult?"

"Being a Knight isn't easy in the first place!" chuckled Lento, then he looked ahead. "We've arrived at the temple."

•

"Glave, can you get the new guy up and ready?" Lento said to a suspiciously dressed man with white hair. The man was completely clothed in black robes and had a mask covering his face except for one eye.

"Who's he?" Raven whispered to his senior.

"That's Glave, he's the head alchemist and the one in charge of the rituals for Marionel bonding." He replied with a whisper as well.

"I can hear you two." The man's voice was slightly muffled from his mask; he was making preparations for the ritual. "If you're going to talk about someone behind his back, do it more quietly."

But we were whispering... Raven thought.

After a few minutes of waiting, Glave had nodded his head at the new Knight. "Raven was it? Stand in that symbol, but not in the center-that's where the Marionel appears."

Raven did as he was told, and he noticed that the symbol looked a lot like a transmutation circle. "Should I stand here...?"

"There's fine. Lento, Allegro, I suggest you two stand back." Glave instructed.

The two did as they were told, and Glave started mumbling words.

"Hold on, the Marionels appear out of thin air? Aren't there any materials or something?" Raven blinked, oblivious.

"The materials are elsewhere, they just get transmitted here when the ritual starts, and then the Marionel is created." explained Lento. "At least, that's what I was told. But they've been doing this for years, so I'm sure that's correct."

"Aren't we about to start the ritual though? I don't see anyone bringing the materials." Raven was concerned about this Marionel creation process.

Glave glared-or at least, it seemed like he was glaring. "What he means, is that once I actually started the ritual, there will be a bright light that will make the materials transport from where they are, to here. Now would you please hold your tongue so I can start?"

"...Alright." Raven murmured, and held the questions in.

Glave chanted mysterious words which seemed like they were from another world. The transmutation circle glowed faintly, and there was a flash of blinding white light. Raven was watching every bit of it, amazed at the scene before him. Suddenly, there was a bolt of lightning, which seemed more like a surge of pure electricity, seeing as there were no storm clouds above.

_How can there be thunder when we're indoors?_ "Is this supposed to happen?!"Raven shouted over the loud thunder.

"Every time you create a new Marionel, something different happens! It's just a sign saying it's a different Marionel!" yelled Lento.

There was a huge gust of wind blowing around the room, and Raven was forced to take a step back to keep his balance upright. Electricity crackled around the room, and Raven almost swore it was going to hit him.

After some time, the wind died down, and the electricity started to disappear. The raven-haired knight sighed in relief, but just as he did, a huge surge of light blue electricity struck down into the center of the transmutation circle.

"Gah!" he jumped back, but then paused, and saw there was a petite girl with short silver hair and honey amber eyes. Is this...my Marionel?

She was sitting there, wearing her pure white dress, looking around at her new surroundings. She didn't say a word.

Raven glanced at Lento and Glave, they both ushered him silently to go up to her. He hesitated, then took a couple steps towards her. "Hey, my name's Raven...what's yours?"

"You have to give her a name, Raven." Glave folded his arms. "If you can't think of one, then you can always leave her nameless until later on. You've got a day at max to think of a name for her, if you don't, then she can't be your official Marionel."

"I see..." Raven thought hard about what name he should choose for her. _Hmm...a girl's name? Geez, this is difficult._

Then, Raven remembered his old house back home. He recalled he used to grow an apple tree in front of his house, which bloomed beautiful apple blossoms in spring. He also recalled meeting a young girl there when he was a little boy, she had told him the story of Eve and the Apple. Raven tilted his head to the side, then warmly smiled at the young girl before him. He knelt down, then held out his hand to her. "Eve. How about that name?"

The girl blinked at him, then looked at his hand. She put her hand into his, and whispered, "Eve..." After a few moments, she nodded.

Raven was delighted to hear that his Marionel was pleased with the name, and he pulled her up to stand next to him. "Nice to meet you, Eve! I look forward to having you as my Marionel!"

Glave examined the new doll. "An informant type, huh?"

"How can you tell?"

"Well, sometimes you get hints from when the doll is created. You saw the electricity, didn't you? I guess she could be a magic type but..." He lifted Eve's head with a finger and looked into her eyes. "She's definitely an informant with electricity traits."

"Eh?" he blinked, he was a bit confused. "Informant and electricity traits? But Allegro is just an informant type and alchemist, he doesn't have any magic powers or anything..." he glanced at the small boy.

"Informants have traits, Allegro's trait is Alchemy and Eve's one is Electricity." said Glave.

"But isn't Electricity related to Magic?" asked Raven.

"Your Marionel could be another special type, but there's only one way to find out."

"One way to find out?" he had so many questions.

Lento then stepped in. "Every time a Knight receives a Marionel, they must test if their compatibility is good. If it is, it means that your Marionel is the right one for you."

"And if not?"

"Then it's recommended you get a new Marionel."

"Ah...I see." he glanced at Eve. "So...how do we test our compatibility?"

Lento laughed. "Try her out in combat, gathering information, maybe focus on magic but you'll have to ask someone else about that- I know nothing about magic!"

"Hmm...so, I can just walk away with her?"

Glave nodded. "Of course you can, I don't want anything blowing up in the temple, now scram." he glared.

"Yikes..." the two Knights with their dolls walked out of the temple, and towards the training grounds.

Lento nodded his head, "Well, I'll see you around, Raven, I have to go now." he waved, then left with Allegro, paused, and called out, "If you need any help, then ask either me or Allegro!"

"See you." Raven waved, then turned back to Eve. "Well, all Informants have special types..." He put his hand to his chin. "Let's try and do it in order first."

Raven led Eve into the training hall. "Pick a weapon of your choice."

"..." she remained silent, and walked over to the dangerous objects. She picked up a sword, but then dropped it.

"Haha...is it too heavy for you? Try a knife instead." he handed her a lighter weapon.

She swung it around, then tried to throw it at a target, but missed completely. "Okay, you must not be a combat type then..." he sweat dropped. _Heck, I don't even know if I'm doing this right!_

"..." she sat down on the ground.

"Eh? Eve, why are you sitting down?"

The silver haired girl folded her arms, and did a few air drawings.

"What? You want something to write with...?"

She nodded, and he went to find a pen. After a few moments, he brought a pen back, and gave it to her. _I don't get it, why won't she just talk to me?_

Eve started to draw on the ground, all these different plans and such. They seemed to be diagrams and scribbles.

"Ah...Eve, I don't think you're allowed to write on the floor..." he worried, but then looked at her plans. "Are these...a type of weapon?"

Eve nodded then pointed at the different materials she would need.

He laughed, and bent down next to her. "I'm sorry, I can't provide you with the materials now, but I can later." he patted her head. "You must be an Informant if you can come up with such a brilliant idea so fast."

She blushed a bit, but then shyly slapped his cheek lightly. He raised his eyebrow, but rather than getting angry, he found it somewhat cute. "Alright, we both know you're an Informant, but Glave said something about electricity...maybe you're also part magic?" _Is that even possible?_

He took her out to the training grounds, where dummies, targets, and open spaces were. "You can try to...test out your magical powers here?" he frowned. Magical powers...it sounds stupid when I say it.

The clueless girl tilted her head in confusion. She obviously had no idea how to test or use magic.

"Er-" Raven searched around frantically for a knight with a magic type companion. _Oh great, they all look normal..._

"Let's just...assume that you're only an Informant." he mumbled, then sighed. _So, I know she's an Informant, but how on earth do I test compatibility?_

"Man, you and your doll...you two are like perfect for each other!" At that moment, he heard some knights talking.

"Ha, thanks! We only needed one training session; my Marionel's got good initiative!" The other guy said.

_Should I ask...?_ "Uh-Excuse me!" he tried to grab their attention.

The two Knights turned to face him. "Oh, look, it's the new guy. Sup?"

"Sorry, do you know how to test your Marionel's compatibility...?"

They looked at him as if he were crazy. "Dude, just go out on the battlefield with your Marionel and see what happens!"

"WHAT?! THAT'S IT?!" he was shocked.

They laughed. "And if you die that means you're not compatible!"

"...Thanks for the help." he knew they were bulling this time.

"Anytime, man!"

_Ah, great. What should I do now?_ The male examined his surroundings and noticed an odd couple not too far away from him.

A red haired knight (Similar to Elesis's color), was crouched on the ground, taking a beating from a young girl in purple gothic-lolita clothing.

"Ow, hey- cut it out! We're supposed to be working together!" The redhead was shouting.

"Working together!? Who'd wanna work with a weak kid like you!?" The purple girl whacked him with her staff.

Raven sweat dropped._ I can't even tell which one is the doll and which one is the knight...wait- is that a staff!? Knights can't wield magic so she must be the Marionel. _He was about to approach them until the purple girl pointed at him with her staff.

"You, over there!" She called.

"Me?" The dark-haired male pointed to himself.

"Yes, you! Tell this so-called knight to man up!"

"So-called!? This badge is proof, I told you that already!"

"Well, you're not acting like one! You told me that a knight was a strong person who saves people- you're not exactly living up to that image!"

Raven face-palmed. _Both of them are idiots..._

It took a while for Raven to finally break them up and request a favor from them. "So all I need you to do is spar with me and my Marionel." He finished.

"Raven, was it? Yeah, I'm Elsword. Anyways, you do realize that we're more experienced than you?"

"More experienced? I'm the one that does all the work for you!" The purple mage whom was called Aisha whacked her master.

_More experienced, huh? Then why is your teamwork so bad...?_ The newbie thought to himself. "Anyways, can you help me, or not?"

Elsword rubbed his sore head. "Haha, sure, why not?"

•

"...?" Eve tilted her head to the side.

"We're going to try and fight together against these two, alright Eve?" Raven tried to explain.

"..." she nodded, and sharply glared at the two.

"Ahaha...I'm Elsword, nice to meet you, Eve..." Elsword put his hand out for her to shake, hesitantly.

She slapped his hand away.

"Hey! Does this Marionel not know manners?!" he glared at Raven.

"She's new." he muttered in response.

"And I'm Aisha, I'm a Marionel, like you!" Aisha introduced herself, cheerfully.

Eve blinked, then nodded her head.

"Huh...why is it that Eve treats Aisha better than me...?" Elsword wondered with a slightly bitter tone.

Aisha elbowed the red knight in the stomach, then smiled angelically, "Now, shall we begin our sparring session?"

Raven drew his new sword out from its sheath, then got into position. "Alright, ready."

Eve seemed to be confused, while Aisha and Elsword also prepared themselves.

"Well then...I'll go first!" Elsword lunged forward, to try and parry with Raven.

Aisha then threw a dark ball at Eve, which Eve swiftly dodged. The Informant doll traced a triangle in the air, which created a triangular barrier. It blocked all magic and normal attacks, very convenient.

"Not bad...but try and dodge this!" Aisha smirked, and casted a spell. "Lightning bolt!"

Eve threw the triangle barrier at the lightning, causing the two to clash; however, just at that moment, Elsword had appeared in front of her.

"This is it!" he struck down, and Raven gasped, realizing that the redhead and the magician had switched targets.

"!" Eve was thrown back from the impact of Elsword's sword, and she collapsed on the ground.

Elsword then glanced at Aisha, and the two nodded to a stop. Raven quickly ran up to his Marionel. "Eve, are you alright?!"

"..." she didn't say a word.

Raven examined her, and noticed she wasn't injured at all. _I suppose this is one of the good things about a Marionel…?_

"Us, Marionels, don't get injured easily." it was as if Aisha read his mind.

"Ah, is that so?"

Elsword then looked at Raven with worried eyes. "Uh...Raven?"

"What is it?" he looked at the redhead.

"Well...I really hate to say this, but..." he glanced at Aisha, and Aisha also looked down. "Eve and you...you're not compatible."

"Huh? How can you tell?" he blinked.

"If you were, Eve wouldn't have been defeated so easily." he tried to explain.

"But that was my fault for not protecting her." he replied.

"You're not supposed to protect the Marionel. The Marionel is supposed to protect you." Elsword sighed. "Look, if a doll and its master are compatible, they'd be able to at least tie with us, since we're also kind of new. But you two don't even work well together, it's just…"

Raven sighed, then looked at Eve. "I get it. I'll drop by and see Glave."

•

"Glave, what is the meaning of this?" the dark haired man questioned the alchemist.

"Hm? Something wrong?" the male looked up from his books to see the tall knight holding the new Marionel's hand.

"Apparently…" he glanced at Eve. "We're not compatible."

"Are you certain?" he closed the books he was reading.

"Yes, I am." Raven nodded.

"My...this hasn't happened in years." Glave quickly ran over to a bookshelf, and tried to find the book he was looking for. "A doll that isn't compatible with the master is quite a rare case."

"It is?" he blinked.

"It is." and he grabbed a book, skimmed through its contents then locked eyes with Raven. "Raven...I'm sorry."

"What? Why are you apologizing?"

"A Marionel that is not compatible with you is useless to you."

"Then, are you saying…"

"I'll give you a choice. You can either keep this doll, which will be regarded as 'junk', or you can get a new Marionel."

"But I only just got her today!" Raven couldn't understand this logic.

"Raven, you're a Knight now. Think properly."

"Yes, but…" he looked down at Eve again, who didn't say a word, and only stared at the ground.

He sighed. There's not much I can do about it… "I understand. Can I please have some time to think it over?"

Glave held out three fingers. "Three days is all I can give you. If you don't have an answer by then, we will confiscate your Marionel by force."

Raven took a deep breath in, then nodded. "Alright, in three days I'll give you my answer."

**-End of Chapter 1-**

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**Mikoto:** Okay, that's the end for the first chapter~ I hope you guys liked it :)

**Inoki:** Soooo, I hope you guys noticed that I made Elsword's personality a bit more mature~ (Based on the Eltype comics) Yeah, it's a bit different and kind of less fun but hey...who knows! xD Anyways, thanks for reading! Tell us what you think in the reviews :D

•

_See that little button down there that says 'Review'? Much appreciated if you click it! ^_^_


	2. The Black Bird And The Day Before

**To HelloKitty55443:** You're correct! The drawings Eve did on the floor were Moby and Remy; I think that was pretty cute of her xD And why I made them incompatible? To make things more interesting, of course!

**To TsukixnoEvernight:** Yeah, Full Metal Alchemist is great for alchemy references :3 And I think the anime you're talking about is called Rozen Maiden? Lol we're quite fans of it too.

**Mikoto:** Alright guys, chapter 2 is here! By the way, if you've read this fanfic, and you haven't read ElHigh then I have to say this to you…YOU HAVEN'T LIVED YET! ;D Just kidding! But either way, I'd say Elhigh or Marionel is pretty good…Hehe, now I'm just praising myself. Anyways, I'm writing this chapter~  
**Inoki: ** Mikoto's writing it, enjoy the Raven x Eve, folks! :D

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**Chapter 2: The Black Bird & The Day Before**

_Previously:_

_Raven did as he was told, then Penensio smiled at him, "Welcome to the Capital of Knights, Raven. I look forward to working with you."_

_"Marionel." Lento repeated. "A Marionel is a doll, like a puppet, that assists us in combat. Every knight has one!"_

_Raven was delighted to hear that his Marionel was pleased with the name, and he pulled her up to stand next to him. "Nice to meet you, Eve! I look forward to having you as my Marionel!"_

_A red haired knight (Similar to Elesis's color), was crouched on the ground, taking a beating from a young girl in purple gothic-lolita clothing._

"_Well...I really hate to say this, but..." he glanced at Aisha, and Aisha also looked down. "Eve and you...you're not compatible."_

"_You're not supposed to protect the Marionel. The Marionel is supposed to protect you."_

"_I'll give you a choice. You can either keep this doll, which will be regarded as 'junk', or you can get a new Marionel."_

_Raven took a deep breath in, then nodded. "Alright, in three days I'll give you my answer."_

•

_Eve…_ Raven stared at his Marionel, which was staring at her reflection in the fountain behind them. She seemed fascinated with the water. _Why should I keep her?_

He kept thinking, and his eyebrows furrowed. She's useless to me. _Glave and Elsword are right. If I keep her, she'll only be a letdown to me and my missions. But isn't it heartless to toss away someone who you could potentially care about? Won't I regret it? Then again, I barely know her. I shouldn't care, because she's not human._ He glanced at her_. That's right, she's just a clay doll that has a soul in it. She's hollow. A shell. I shouldn't care, because it's not like she's actually alive. Even so…_ He tapped his foot. _This is like a life changing decision…what should I do?_

Raven then felt a cold refreshing feeling against his face. He stopped tapping his foot, and turned his head. "Eve, I advise you to watch where you splash that water."

However, right after he said that, he received another splash into the face. He raised his eyebrow, then looked at her again. "Eve, if you do that one more time, I'm going to have to…"

This time, Eve slapped both of his cheeks with her wet hands. Raven was slowly getting more and more annoyed. "Sheesh, this is like babysitting kids! I really should just get rid of you!"

She slapped him harder, and he caught her wrists right after the slap. "Seriously, you're really starting to annoy…huh?" He looked at her, and she had a sad expression on her face. "What's wrong?"

"…" she pointed at Raven.

"Me?" he blinked. "I don't quite…"

She slapped him again.

"Ow! Hey, stop that!" he laughed, and tried to avoid her hurtful slaps.

The Marionel stopped slapping him, and pointed at him again.

"Ahaha…what?" he tilted his head to the side, but then noticed that she was smiling now. "Is there something on my face?"

Eve shook her head.

_Oh…could it be?_ "Eve, were you…trying to make me smile?"

She nodded her head frantically.

_I think she's shy…how cute._ He chuckled, then lifted her up, and let her sit on his shoulders. "And up we go!"

"!" Eve nearly fell off, but then she grabbed onto his head, which ended up covering his eyes.

"Oi, if you do that, I won't be able to see where I'm going…!" he gripped her hands, and put them on the side of his head instead. "Hold on to my head there, and you won't fall, okay?"

She nodded, then he started to walk. "Where do you want to go?"

Eve merely shrugged.

"Well, that's…helpful." He murmured to himself, but then suddenly cringed. "Ugh…Eve, what now?"

The little girl was knocking his head, and putting her ear to it, then knocking it again.

"I do have a brain in there, you know." He said, his voice with a tint of irritation.

She let out a small giggle, then pointed forward. "Hm? This way?" Raven went forward, and she pointed another way. "You want me to turn this way?" Eve nodded, and kept directing him.

•

The Knight and Marionel soon arrived at the Town Square. "Is this where you wanted to go?"

She hit his head in response, as in to say 'yes'.

"Why? It's crowded here, and I thought you didn't like crowds?" or at least, that was what he assumed.

Eve hit his head again, then pointed at a stall.

_Alright, so she doesn't like crowds after all, but I guess she was curious about the crowd_. Raven then glanced at the direction she was pointing in, and saw it was a food stall. "Ah, that's right. Today's Saturday…I read somewhere that every Saturday, the Town Square turns into a market, until 5:00. Since we're here, tell me what you want, and I'll treat you just this once, okay?"

She seemed to be really enthusiastic about this, because she was swinging her legs, which would sometimes lightly hit his shoulders. "Alright, alright, we'll go to that food stall you pointed at."

They approached the store, and the shopkeeper smiled warmly at them. "Hey there, what can I get for ya?"

The two looked at the food, and saw that it was mostly fruit, and some freshly baked bread. Raven looked up, and Eve pointed at the red fruit.

"You want an apple?"

Eve nodded, then pointed at the bread. "And some bread?" he questioned, and she nodded again. "Excuse me, how much is one apple and the bread?"

"Not much at all, son! Today, we're having a small special on the fruit, buy one piece of fruit, and get another free! Although, the bread is still the usual price, but it's nice, I tell you!" he grinned.

Raven smiled at the owner, then reached for his small bag of money. He took out some ED, and handed it to the shopkeeper. "I'll take that apple, and that other one, then I'll have this bread, that okay?"

"Nice doing business with you!" he handed Raven the stuff, then waved. "Come again!"

Raven wiped the apples with a cloth, then handed one to Eve. He munched onto the other one, and stored the bread into his bag for later. "Is it nice?"

She hit his head to say yes.

"Hey now, don't go getting bits of apple on my hair, got it?"

She didn't hit his head. "Eve, do you understand?"

She still didn't hit his head.

He sighed. "You've already got bits of apple in my hair, don't you?"

She hit his head.

"Great." He murmured, then laughed. "Oh well. Let's go to the next place, shall we?"

•

A sweet aroma drifted through the air, and Raven looked at Eve, whom was closing her eyes. "Do you like that smell, Eve?"

She nodded, and mouthed the words, 'what is it?'

"Let me show you!" he grinned, and took a few steps back. "Hold on tight!"

She did, and he sped off; really fast. They then appeared in a beautiful area of flowers and plants.

"Welcome to Velder's Botanical Garden!" Raven presented the garden to her, and spun around slowly. "Do you like it?"

She nodded her head, and stared at all of the pretty colors in awe.

"And, it's not crowded around this time…even better, right?" he smirked, and slowly walked through the garden. "See this flower? It's a camellia. And over here is a rose, and there's a tulip. I honestly like lilies…then again, I like a lot of things." He laughed, then continued pointing out different flowers.

Eve hit his head lightly, and he looked up. "What is it?" The Marionel hit him again, and again. Raven sighed. "You know, if you want me to put you down, you could just _talk _to me." He knelt down, and she jumped off of his shoulders. After that, he continued walking at his normal pace, and Eve tottered beside him. However, after a while, Raven noticed that she wasn't at his side anymore. He turned around, and saw she was quite behind. "Am I walking too fast for you?"

Eve shook her head stubbornly, and ran past him. He shrugged. "Suit yourself." He continued walking, but soon passed her. He spun around again, and saw she was trying her best to keep up. "I can carry you, you know?"

She shook her head again, and quickly ran next to him, trying to walk at the same pace. Raven raised his eyebrow. "Is it because you want to look at the flowers from your level? And touch them?"

The small Marionel nodded this time, then continued to try and walk at his pace.

"If I'm going too fast for you, just hit me or something, alright?"

Eve didn't respond, she was too busy admiring a lotus in the nearby pond.

"Hey, don't fall in…you've got to be careful, too." He murmured, and went ahead. Raven then felt a small tugging on the back of his jacket, and he paused.

"Ra…Rave…" said a small voice.

The Knight slowly turned his head slightly, to see Eve tugging on his jacket, while staring up at him. "Raven?"

_This…this must be the feeling of when your daughter says 'papa' or 'dada' for the first time ever…! _Raven's smile was so wide, he was overjoyed with happiness. "Eve…Can you say my name again?"

"Raven?" she blinked, clueless.

"Again?"

"Raven." She mumbled.

"Again?"

"Raven." She tugged on his jacket harder.

He leaned down a bit, and was about to say, "Agai-"

She slapped him. "Raven, you walk too fast!"

The newbie held his throbbing cheek. "Ughh…yeah, okay, got it, sorry…I'll slow down for you."

"You don't have to, if you don't want to…Raven." She murmured his name.

_Ahhh, so cute._ He picked Eve up, and spun her around in the air. "I'm really happy that you've finally decided to talk to me!"

"Put me down!" she demanded, while blushing.

"Ahaha!" he then put her down, but she grabbed onto his hand. "Hm?"

"Walk." She muttered, while staring ahead.

He chuckled, then did as she said. "Yes, yes."

•

"Hey, Eve, I've been thinking…" Raven started to trail off, as the two walked through the town again, still holding hands.

"?"

"Shouldn't you be calling me 'master' or something?" he joked.

"No." she replied, stubbornly.

"Huh? Why not?" he looked down at the petite girl next to him.

Eve didn't respond, but instead walked faster. "Just because."

"Just because?" he raised his eyebrow.

"Just because." She replied, then paused. "Raven, do you still have the apple cores from before?"

"You mean those scraps? Yeah, why?"

"Let's go home!" she tugged on his hand.

"Home? Why?" he blinked. "Don't you want to stay in town for a little longer?"

"No." she puffed her cheeks. "We can always come back tomorrow."

_Tomorrow, huh?_ "Well, alright then." He started to lead her back to the dormitories.

"No, not that 'home'." She tugged on his hand, and tried to pull him to another direction.

"But the dorms are my home now…" he started to get confused. "You can't possibly mean my previous house."

"No, that's too far away."

"Wait, Eve…how do you know where I live?" asked the Knight.

She shot him a sharp glare, then let go of his hand, walking ahead of him. "This way."

_Oh, right, she's an Informant. She probably has this whole city mapped in her mind already._ "Well, okay…"

After about ten minutes of walking, the two had reached a small abandoned house at the very outskirts of the capital.

"Er…Eve, where are we?" he looked around.

"Outskirts of the Capital." She replied, then opened the door to the house.

"Hey, wait, someone might live here…" Raven quickly chased after her, but then he saw that the small house was completely empty and very old. "If no one is here, why don't they just demolish the building?"

Eve looked around some more, then sat on the dusty floor. "This place…"

"What about it?" Raven stood in front of her.

"It feels special to me."

"Special? It's just an old abandoned house…"

"Even so, I can't help but feel that this place is familiar…it's nice here, it's not crowded, and it's quiet." She stood up, then dusted herself. She held out her hand. "Apple seeds."

"What? Oh, right!" he grabbed the apple cores, and handed them to her. "What are you going to do with these anyways…?"

The Marionel ran outside, then started to dig up the soil.

"Eve, don't do that, you'll get your hands dirty." He walked out after her.

Nonetheless, she continued to dig, until she had created a small hole. Afterwards, she shook the apple cores, and held the apple seeds in her hand. Then, Eve placed the apple seeds into the soil, and filled the hole again.

"You're planting an apple tree?" questioned Raven.

"Is there a problem?" she shot him a sharp glare.

"None here…" he looked away, but then his eyes shifted to her dirty hands. He knelt down before her, and took her hands into his. He took out some cloth from his bag, and started to wipe her hands clean for her. "Why do you want to plant an apple tree, Eve?"

"I like apples." She blushed, while watching him tend to her hands. "I want to see something grow."

"You want to see something grow?"

Eve nodded. "Like those flowers we saw in the garden. I want to see a big apple tree grow here."

"That's nice, but you know…it takes a long time to grow an apple tree." He replied, still looking at her hands. "You also need to take care of it frequently. Like watering it, and giving it lots of love." _But she might not be here in the next three days._

Eve pouted at him. "I want to grow an apple tree here."

Raven sighed, then gave her a smile, but it wasn't a happy smile. It was like a smile of pity. "Then I'll help take care of this tree too."

Eve brightened up, and her lips curved upwards. "Thank you."

_You finally smiled for me…_

•

Raven and Eve were leaving the outskirts, and entering the capital again. It was around sunset, and Eve's legs were getting tired. The knight stopped walking, and knelt on one knee. "Eve, get on."

"?" she tilted her head to the side.

"Climb onto my back, I'll carry you." He smiled gently at her.

Eve obediently climbed onto his back, and he lifted her up. "You know, I'm quite amazed at how light Marionels are."

She didn't respond, and he continued walking. "Sometimes, I think you're like a little sister to me."

"Relatives…" she whispered.

"What?" he turned slightly.

"Don't you have any relatives?"

"Relatives, huh?" Raven looked up at the dawning sky. "My father died on the battlefield-he was also a Velder Knight, so my mother and I seldom saw him. But back then they didn't have Marionels." He chuckled. "Then my mother soon passed away after she heard the news of father, she worked herself too hard, and died of an illness. And, well, it was just me after that." He looked back at the ground. "Still, I met some nice people…" His dead fiancée flashed through his mind. "And some not so nice people, but that's all just an experience." He stopped smiling, and tried to think of something else to say. "What about you, Eve? No relatives at all? Do Marionels even have relatives?"

Eve shook her head. "I'm alone, like you."

Raven looked ahead. "Correction, you're alone with me, so that makes us two."

"But how can someone be alone with another person, and still call it alone?" she asked.

"They can't. That's why we call it 'together'." He smiled, and looked at her in the eyes. "We'll always be together, okay?"

"Okay…" she leaned her head on his shoulder, and rested her eyes.

Or at least, for now we'll be together.

Suddenly, Eve's eyes opened, as she heard screams. She pointed at a colorful place with lots of loud noise.

"Oh that? That's what we call an Amusement Park. Unfortunately, I'm a bit low on ED right now, so we can't go there yet. Maybe another day, alright?" he sweat dropped.

She folded her arms, stubbornly.

"Come on, cut me some slack! I've only been here for a couple days, you know." He laughed. "I promise, another day."

She sighed then whispered in a quiet voice, "Fine."

He smiled, but then his smile turned upside down. "Is that who I think it is?"

It was a redhead getting beaten up by a purple mage.

"Ouch! I'm sorry! I just don't have enough ED!" yelled the redhead, apologetically.

"Well, too bad! I want to go to the Amusement Park now!" she stomped on him some more.

"Have mercy, I'm broke!"

"Have mercy, you say?! What happened to the money we made on those missions?!" she glared.

"I had to use that on food for us!"

"And we didn't have any leftover?!" she whacked him with her staff.

"Sorry, we didn't! I'll take you to the Amusement park next time!"

"Next time means never!"

"Uh…hey…?" Raven greeted them awkwardly.

"Oh, if it isn't Mr. Newbie and his Marionel." Aisha stopped abusing Elsword, and turned to face them. "Hello again!"

The red Knight struggled to stand up after such a beating, but somehow managed to. He dusted himself off, and rubbed a few bruises, then faced Raven & Eve. "Ahaha, sorry you guys had to see such an…unfitting scene."

"You know, you're pretty pathetic for a Knight." Raven said, bluntly.

"P-Pathetic?!" Elsword was taken aback.

"Anyways, what can we do for you~?" Aisha interrupted.

"You guys want to go to the Amusement Park?" questioned Raven.

"I kind of do, it's mainly just Aisha." Elsword scratched the back of his head. "But you know, I'm broke."

"Looks like we're in the same boat then." laughed Raven. "Eve also wanted to go, but yeah, same situation."

"Huh…is that so?" Elsword glanced at the petite Marionel on the Knight's back.

"Why don't we all go together when we get enough money?!" Aisha suggested, excitedly.

"Hey…yeah, that's a good idea!" Elsword chipped in.

Raven smirked. "Then, it's settled."

Eve kicked Raven, and he turned his head slightly. "What is it?"

She pointed at the sun going down, and Raven paused. "Ah…hey, guys, we should head back to the campus."

"Eh? Is it that time already?" blinked the lord knight.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Aisha grabbed Elsword's arm, and started to drag him back.

Raven walked next to the two, and they talked about small things like what they did today and such.

Elsword was letting Aisha drag him along, and then he asked, "So, have you guys got a title yet?"

"Title?" blinked Raven. "What do you mean?"

"Well, after you've completed your first mission with your Marionel, you tend to get a title."

"Ah…well, we're not going on any missions any time soon."

"How come?"

"It's…complicated." He laughed it off, then shot the question back. "So, what's you and Aisha's title then?"

"Ours? It's sort of a long time back."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, we got it really early, like, just after I had gotten Aisha."

"Wow." Raven replied. "Care to share?"

"If I were to share it with you, it'd take a long time. I'd have to explain all about how we first met and stuff, you know, it might be boring." laughed Elsword.

"We don't mind, right, Eve?"

Eve nodded in agreement, and Elsword glanced at Aisha. "Do you mind me talking about it, Aisha?"

"Do what you want, I don't care!" she replied, still dragging him, and not turning around to face him.

Elsword chuckled, then started to talk. "Well, alright then…I remember it as if it were yesterday. It all started out when…"

**-End of Chapter 2-**

* * *

**Mikoto:** Ino's writing the next chapter, which is about Aisha & Elsword, so look forward to it guys~ By the way, did you guys see what I did with the title of this chapter? Raven=Black Bird, and Eve=Day before :D Oh well, it doesn't matter if you guys didn't get it xD

**Inoki:** Yay! Some quality El x Ai time in the next chapter :) Good start, Mikoto!

•

_See that little button down there that says 'Review'? Much appreciated if you click it! ^_^_


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